Friction closure cap



Patented a. 18, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT oFncE EDGAR SCOFIELI), OF NEW YORK, N. Y, ASSIGNOR TO ANCHOR CAP & CLOSURE OOBPO- RATION, 0]? LONG ISLAND CITY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OI NEW YORK rnrc'rron cnosrmn on Application fled October 10, 1988. Serial. 30. 811,440.

I caps adapted to be held in position by a metaltolass grip. fn sealing jellies and the like, the sugar content is such that it is unnecessary to use a hermetic seal. Of course, a hermetic seal is better but a good dust proof sealwill sufilce.

For these purposes, friction closure caps having a metal-to-glass grip are used to a considerable extent. Usually a liner of cardboard or oiled paper is inserted in the top of the cap to form an edge seal. This seal is frequently defective due to the fact that flaws are most likely to occur about the edge of glass containers.

The main difliculty with this type of cap is that glass containers vary in size and outof-roundness by as much as thirty thousandths of an inch or roughly three-quarters of a millimeter. This is a permissible variation and of course in some instances containers with greater variations ass inspection and hence reach the pac er. Great difiiculty has been encountered in securing closures in which the contacting metal forms a tight grip capable of holding a cap on minimum size glass and at the same time fit upon the maximum size container. Generally, there is a substantial percentage of caps which crush in going on the maximum size containers. The reason for this is that the metal of the ca is unable to stretch sufiiciently to go over tl ie glass. This is ac centuated by the fact that the caps do not sit straight on the container but are permitted to cant to one side when placed on the container for the sealing operation. The cap is accordingly subjected to excessive crushing forces before'it rights itself and frequently crushes. This not only means a'loss of caps but in some instances, the loss of contents and the requirement for someone to watch the machinery.

The present invention eliminates these difsible range in size of containers.

In addition, if necessary, it will also ac providing a closure cap which' will readi y accommodate the entire permismitted by the standardization rules. At the same time, it makes a ver tight seal and forms both an edge seal an a metal-to-glass side seal both of which are effective in preventing access of deleterious matter and the escape of liquids where the liquids are packed in t e containers. The caps are adapted to right themselves on the containers upon a-ppllcation of a small force by the sealing mechanism thereby to facilitate the sealing operation.

An object of the invention is to rovide an inexpensive closure adapted to orm an effective metal-to-glass grip on containers varying in size and out-of-roundness within and be 0nd the permitted variations established by the trade.

Another object of the invention is to eliminate or minimize the crushing of friction closure caps when applied to maximum size containers.

A further object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive closure cap having a plurality of gripping zones, the lower zone aving greater expansieility so that it will right itself on the container when the conta ner passes through this zone, thereby facilitating the passage of the container through a second sealing zone and forming a very tight grip.

Other and further objects of the inven tion will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrated embodiment about to be described or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in ractice.

preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for and description and is s own in the accompanying drawing, wherein v Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the closure;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; a

Fig. 3 is a fra 'entary sectional view on the line 3-3 of 1;

Fi 4is a fragmentary sectional view of the c osure cap on a container ready for the sealin operation showing the closure in cante position;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of a cap and container showing the cap partially on the container; and

Fig. 6 shows the cap on the container.

Referring to the drawing, there is. shown a closure cap 1 and a container 2. The closure cap comprises a cover portion 4 and a depending skirt 5 having an annular bead or groove 6 adjacent the upper part thereof. The size of this bead is such that it may be stretched over the side wall of the container to form a tight seal on containers of minimum size. Preferably, the bead is cont1nuous so that a liquid tight seal is formed on the side wall of the container in addition to an edge seal formed by the liner 7. about the upper edge of the container.

A continuous bead in addition to forming a seal provides a very tight grip since it is necessary that metal therein be stretched for the cap to go on the container. This acts like an elastic band and provides a very effective grip and an effective metal-to-glass seal which will prevent dust and the like from contaminating the contents of the package irrespective of the use of a liner. Due to the fact that the bead is in the upper part of the skirt and therefore engages the container adjacent its upper edge, there is no material trapping of air therein.

A second gripping zone is formed at the a lower part of the skirt by means of a series of indentations 8. While these indentations may vary in shape and size, they are shown herein forming a continuous band adjacent the lower edge of the skirt which preferably is turned upwardly into a wire ed e 9 to conceal and protect the raw edge 0 the metal and to strengthen the lower edge of the cap. The indentations 8 are illustrated as short corru ations. Due to the smallness of these and ue to their proximity to each other, this part of the cap may be expanded entirely by bending as distinguished from the stretching necessary to expand the upper bead. Since bending requires less force than stretching, the container will go through this zone more easily than through the upper zone. The lower zone serves to right the cap on the \A container so that the upper zone will readily telescope about the container without requiring excessive sealing pressures. In addition the lower zone forms a substantial gripping action which cooperates with the upper sealing zone to provide a firm grip on the container. The outward and upward pressure on the lower zone transmits 'anupward and inward pressure on the upper'zoneor head which constricts it. slightly giving a better grip. The coacting zones form a tight grip even on containers with slight tapers. It will be clear from Figs. 4, 5, and 6, that closures 'which are canted to one side, will right themselves as the container passes through the lower gripping zone.

The container 2 preferably has at its up-' per end the usual jellyring or cylindrical wall for engagement with the sealing clo-- sure. Slight tapers will not affect materiall the seal since the lower sealing zone is rea minimize the tendency ibr the cap to pop off if the jelly ring has a slight taper.

In applying the closure tosuch ac'ontainer, the caps are usually placed on the con: tainer by a boy or girl as the filled containers move along a conveyor. It is not possible for the operator to adjust each cap so that it sits properly upon the container and hence they are permitted to cant somewhat as shown in Fig. 4. As the line of containers pass the sealing station, a sealing head 10 presses downwardly upon the container, the

effect first being to right the cap in position simultaneously with telescopin the lower sealing zone about the upper en of the container as shown in Fig. 5. With the closure in this position a. maximum stretchin of the bead 6 may be effected without crus ing the cap because it is accurately held in position by the lower sealing zone. Thereafter continued application of pressure causes the upper bead to slide overthe mouth of the receptacle into its, sealed position as shown in Fig. 6. It will be seen that the present invention provides a closure cap which is inexpensive in construction and which is adapted to form a very effective seal on containers varying in size and having slight tapers at their upper ends. The lower sealing zone serves to correct the position of the cap so that the container may be telescoped through the up.- per sealing zone. The passage through the first sealing zone causing the secondzone to decrease shghtl in size which also increases the grip u on t e container. 'Due' to the cooperation Eetween the two sealing zones and due to the osition of the cap prior to the insertion of the vessel throughthe second sealing zone, a maximum ran e of variations in size may be accommodate Further, the sealed packa is fully capable of withstanding the roug usage in shipment and otherwise to which it may be subjected without impairin the seal and without accidental removal o the cap. The cap ma be readily removed by tap ing the side 0 the closure to peen the bead thereby to increase its size so that it can be manua y removed and used repeatedly as a re seal closure.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and no scope of the invention and without sacrificing its advantages it is understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted. as illustrative and not in a limiting sense..

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. A friction closure cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt, a head in the upper part of the skirt for forming a continuous sealing zone on the side wall of a container, and corrugations in the lower portion of the skirt adapted to engage the container and form a less tight and more expansive gripping zone.

2. A friction closure cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt, an inwardly extending annular bead in the upper part of the skirt for forming a relatively tight grip on a container, and a series of closely spaced indentations in the lower partof the skirt adapted to setthe cap straight on the container to facilitate the sealing operation and to form an expansive gripping zone.

3. A friction closure cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt and a plurality of sealing zones in said skirt, one of said zones bein formed by vertical corrugations and belng substantially expandible and the other zone being adapted to exert a substantially greater than the first zone.

4. A friction closure cap comprising a cover portion, a depending skirt, a pair of sealing zones in said skirt, the lower sealing zone being formed by vertical corrugations and more resilient than the upper zone.

5. A friction closure cap, comprising 'a cover portion, a depending skirt, continuous annular bead in the upper part of the skirt adapted to form a metal-to-glass seal with a container, and a corrugated zone in the lower part of the skirt adapted to engage the container'and cooperate with the upper sealing zone to .form a tight seal.

-6. A friction closure comprising a cover part, a dependin skirt, a rolled edge on the bottom of said skirt, an annular bead in the upper part of the skirt for forming a relatively tight grip on a container, and a series of instruck corrugations in the lower part of the skirt adjacent to said rolled edge adapted to form a more expansive gripping zone.

EDGAR SGOFIELD.

grip on the container 

